Plant a garden – But don’t become an environmental hypocrite!

"In the heart of a bulb is the promise of spring....."

The environmental cause is a true concern; nature is drowning in plastic, car exhaust fumes pollute our atmosphere and mountains of fast-fashion clothing rot away in landfills while we continue to drive cars running on fossil fuel and feel little, or no shame at picking up a bargain at the shop or online for items made thousand’s of miles away, while knowingly overlooking locally made products due to their higher price tags.

In Sweden a teenage activist named Greta Ernman Thunberg has been making news with her fight against global warming. Following in her example hundreds of scandinavian children and students have also gone on school strikes in March 2019 to campaign against climate change.

Had I been 16 I would have been the loudest and most eager participant, pushing my way to the front of the line, and shouting until my voice is hoarse “Stop using plastic !”. I am in the over 40 category now, and while I one hundred percent agree that the planet is sick and needs help, I might be seeing the situation from a slightly different vantage point. 

Yes ! The planet is not doing too good, and while it is easy to blame the older generation for the plastic mess, the truth of the matter is that plastic and cars alone are not the main cause of global warming and climate change – Greed and it’s little sister – vanity,  are the true origin of the problem!

Greed is the reason why the cucumbers at the grocery store are individually sold in plastic wrap ! Someone at one time figured out there was more profit to be made selling beautiful, matching vegetables wrapped in plastic than trying to convince customers to buy the short, deformed or damaged ones. 

Greed is also the motivating factor behind much of fashion industry, and any manufacturers that
produces and sells non-biodegradable / recyclable items, as well as those of inferior quality. Someone, somewhere is making a profit on the culpability of customers. 

Vanity is the reason we keep buying new items that are easily expendable. Think about it for a while, how many things do we have around the house that we do not actually use, need, or even like? Or, how often do we replace a perfectly good item for a shinier, newer version ?

We are all guilty, and while we feel good about going shopping with our recyclable nets, or tote bags the important question should be not in what we carry our purchases in, but what did we buy ?

Don’t get me wrong I do support the engagement for the global health of our planet, but demonstrations are not enough, what we need is a change of attitude, a change in our appetites and shopping habits. 

I urge all those who feel strongly about the environment to make a pledge, a personal vow to live simpler, more purposeful lives. To reject greed and vanity in not just their daily lives, but also in their career choices. 

Grow a vegetable garden, plant flowers bees are attracted to, be conscious and aware of your responsibility as custodians of our delicate eco system, recycle, and buy local products. 

But most of all remember actions speaks louder than words, and cliché as it sounds this saying is as true as ever  "To change the world you must first change yourself!" 

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First signs of spring, plans for my 2019 potager ( kitchen garden ), thoughts and reflections.

Third of March, and the first little bit of colour in the garden - a lone yellow crocus.

February is the shortest month of the year, and yet it seems the longest - Especially for eager gardeners  like myself who can hardly wait to get just simply get started. But, unless you have a heated green house, or place indoor for jumpstarting the season it is the month when you have to be patient and bide your time, as it is just a little too early to start planting. Nonetheless it is the perfect month for doing some research, reading, and putting together your plan for the spring.

I had a lot of ideas, however when I sat down with pen and paper and started to work out the details I realized I should keep it simple for this year and see how it goes from there.

You see I made a couple of mistakes in my eagerness and inexperience.

When we first moved into our present house back in 2011, I was so exited to finally have a garden I jumped right in and started to plant, and sow and place bulbs without thought or care – I even planted a cherry tree without doing any research beforehand. I went to the local plant shop, bought a tree, dug a hole, place the tree inside and watered it lovingly - - -  well, it’s still alive, but hasn’t really thrived ?

Then came the vegetable garden, I made some raised beds with planks salvaged from a collapsed shed, and bits-and-pieces I found under the veranda. I was a bit eager and didn’t really think it through, I was also careless and forgot to remove the top soil layer which in turn made weeding super hard as grass kept coming up, and on top of it  I placed the beds  a little too close together making it impossible to pass the lawnmower between. 

I will not even get started on my catastrophe of a compost, it was too big, got too full, and looked ----- !

Nature is nature, plants did grow, and flowers did bloom (some died too !). Then I got a little discouraged, and didn’t put effort into my garden, I just sort of let it ‘happen’. But this year I want to start again, and this time do it right from the start.

The first plan of action is to re-make the raised beds, longer, and with enough space to pass the lawnmower – Then I will try out a few new vegetables and keep track of what I am doing, and see how I can improve the coming years.

I feel privileged to be entrusted with the care of this little garden patch, and I want to use it as a creative outlet and a chance to re-connect with a with nature and my love of watching things grow. Turning 40 last year has brought a lot of thoughts in my mind, not negative thoughts per se, but small nudges to stop, pause, take a look at where I am, where I came from, and where I am going. In the Bible it talks about putting away childish things when you become a man, but it is not just a good advice for young people who are leaving the nest and getting started as adult members of society. It is something you need to do regularly at different intervals in your life, there are different seasons in the cycle of life and at each threshold it is a good time to stop and ponder a little, make some changes, let go of some things, and maybe go back to the basics, to your true interests and  re-discover your passions.

The longer I live, and the more I see others go through their seasons I can’t help but notice how people who are the most fulfilled and happiest in their older years are those who return to the dreams of their youth, it gets complicated in the middle, often we are too busy, to occupied with adult-ing, raising kids and paying bills that we forget what we truly enjoy. Maybe the secret to finding your life’s meaning is to go back to your childhood dreams, not necessarily the ones about being a pink ballerina dancer, or fearless firefighter, but the more subtle ones, the ones about being a musician, or artist, gardener or writer, inventor, or poet. Maybe we should take the time to look back and see who we wanted to be when we were still innocent children, and adapt that dream to our present life….

The kitchen garden plan for 2019

The way I had my vegetable boxes the past couple years.